Japan has carried out its first submarine drill in the South China Sea, a newspaper said Monday, a move that could provoke Beijing which claims most of the disputed waters. Submarine Kuroshio on Thursday joined three Japanese warships in waters just southwest of the China-controlled Scarborough Shoal, the Asahi Shimbun said. China claims most of […]

Japan has carried out its first submarine drill in the South China Sea, a newspaper said Monday, a move that could provoke Beijing which claims most of the disputed waters.

Submarine Kuroshio on Thursday joined three Japanese warships in waters just southwest of the China-controlled Scarborough Shoal, the Asahi Shimbun said.

China claims most of the resource-rich South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in shipping trade passes annually, despite competing claims from Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Tensions have been high over the Scarborough Shoal since it was seized from Manila by Beijing in 2012.

The newspaper said the submarine exercises were Tokyo´s first in the South China Sea.

The sources said it was a legitimate naval exercise in neutral waters, with rights of access secured under international law.

Following the drill, the Japanese submarine plans to make a port call on Monday at Cam Ranh, central Vietnam, in a bid to display Tokyo´s defence cooperation with Hanoi, Asahi said.

It will be the first call by a submarine at the strategically important port since the Second World War, it added.

The disputed South China Sea contains vital global shipping routes and what are believed to be significant oil and natural gas deposits.

China has engaged in years of land-reclamation efforts on reefs it controls in the region, and built both civilian and military facilities in the contested area.

Earlier this month, Beijing lashed out at Britain for sending a warship close to the disputed islands — one of a series of “freedom of navigation” operations carried out in recent times by the US and its allies as a signal to Beijing of their right to access the disputed waters.

South Korea launched its first ever missile-capable attack submarine on Friday, despite a recent diplomatic thaw with the nuclear-armed North. The $700 million, 3,000-tonne Dosan Ahn Chang-ho submarine is capable of firing both cruise and ballistic missiles and the first of three planned diesel-electric boats to go into service in the next five years. It […]

South Korea launched its first ever missile-capable attack submarine on Friday, despite a recent diplomatic thaw with the nuclear-armed North.

The $700 million, 3,000-tonne Dosan Ahn Chang-ho submarine is capable of firing both cruise and ballistic missiles and the first of three planned diesel-electric boats to go into service in the next five years.

It represented a “leap forward in the country´s” defence industry, President Moon Jae-in told a launch ceremony at the Daewoo shipyard where it was designed and built.

“Peace through power is the unwavering security strategy of this government.”

Moon will head to Pyongyang next week for a third summit with the North’s leader Kim Jong Un, as US-led efforts to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons have stalled.

“We have set off on a grand journey toward the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula,” Moon said.

“But peace is not given gratuitously,” he added.

The new submarine is fitted with six vertical launch tubes and features indigenous sonar and combat management systems.

Aside from the new vessels, South Korea has an existing fleet of 18 smaller submarines, all built in co-operation with Germany.

According to the defence ministry, the North has 70 ageing submarines and submersibles, and Yonhap news agency reported that it has also developed a new 2,500-tonne submarine fitted with a vertical launch system.

ISLAMABAD: US National Security Adviser John Bolton has said the military aid suspension to Pakistan was not taken lightly by the Trump administration. In his address to a Washington think-tank on Monday— the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, Bolton said the war against terrorism was a matter of extraordinary importance to America. […]

ISLAMABAD: US National Security Adviser John Bolton has said the military aid suspension to Pakistan was not taken lightly by the Trump administration.

In his address to a Washington think-tank on Monday— the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, Bolton said the war against terrorism was a matter of extraordinary importance to America.

Bolton was quoted as saying by the Financial Express that the US wanted Pakistan to cooperate fully in the war against terrorism. “It was before my time, but the Trump administration did not take the decision to cancel a substantial part of the military aid package to Pakistan lightly,” he said.

“It was done knowing full well that Pakistan is a nuclear weapons state, and the risk that the government could fall into the hands of terrorists…” In January, US President Donald Trump suspended most of military aid to Pakistan, accusing Islamabad of allowing the Taliban to use its territory for attacks in Afghanistan.

In August this year, the US Congress passed a $716.3 billion defense authorization bill, significantly slashing the security aid to Pakistan to $150 million per year. The security-related aids have been around $750 million to $1 billion until now.

Last week, the Pentagon asked Congress to allow it to use for other purpose the funds that had been set aside for Pakistan. The re-allocation ended the possibility that the funds earmarked for Pakistan could be released if Islamabad agreed to take the required action against various terrorist groups.

During his visit to Islamabad last week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had pressed the new Pakistani government to rein in the groups reportedly operating from its soil. Bolton said Secretary Pompeo wanted to convey the message that “we hoped and expected that Pakistan would cooperate fully in the war against terrorism, which they had committed to do.”

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry quoted US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as assuring Pakistan last week that Washington would not try to block any request for a bailout from the International Monetary Fund

A spokesman for the U.S. State Department told Reuters that Washington wanted to see “a prosperous Pakistan that contributes positively toward regional stability and security.”

The spokesman added: “We understand that Pakistan has not requested assistance from the IMF. If they do request assistance, as we do in all cases in evaluating any loan program, we will examine closely all aspects.”

The new Imran Khan-led government, which assumed charge in August, is trying to avert a currency crisis caused by a shortage of dollars in an economy hit by a ballooning current account deficit and dwindling foreign currency reserves.

COLOMBO: Animal sacrifices at Hindu temples could be banned in Sri Lanka under new plans announced Wednesday, after growing protests over the rituals from the country’s Buddhist majority as well as moderate Hindus. The cabinet approved a proposal put forward by the Hindu Religious Affairs minister to outlaw the ancient practice that is still observed […]

COLOMBO: Animal sacrifices at Hindu temples could be banned in Sri Lanka under new plans announced Wednesday, after growing protests over the rituals from the country’s Buddhist majority as well as moderate Hindus.

The cabinet approved a proposal put forward by the Hindu Religious Affairs minister to outlaw the ancient practice that is still observed at several temples across the country.

“The legal draughtsman was asked to prepare a bill to ban animal and bird sacrifices at Hindu temples,” the government said in a statement.

During religious festivals, some devout Hindus sacrifice goats, chickens and buffalos, expecting good fortune in return.

But the practice has offended animal rights activists, as well as many other Sri Lankans.

Although there is currently no clear law prohibiting animal sacrifices at places of worship, Sri Lankan courts from time to time have issued temporary bans on such practices.

Hindus constitute about 12 percent of Sri Lanka’s 21 million population, which is mainly Buddhist.

WASHINGTON: The United States announced Monday it will shutter the Palestinians’ mission in Washington, accusing them of rebuffing peace talks with Israel. The State Department said the Palestinians had refused to engage with either the United States or Israel and of rejecting outright a still unseen US peace plan. But an official of the Palestinian […]

WASHINGTON: The United States announced Monday it will shutter the Palestinians’ mission in Washington, accusing them of rebuffing peace talks with Israel.

The State Department said the Palestinians had refused to engage with either the United States or Israel and of rejecting outright a still unseen US peace plan.

But an official of the Palestinian Liberation Organization said they were being blackmailed by a White House blatantly biased in favor of Israel and called the move a “dangerous escalation” of tensions in the region.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the Washington mission had been allowed to remain open on a special waiver since last November in order to foster work on achieving “a lasting, comprehensive peace between Israelis and the Palestinians.”

“However, the PLO has not taken steps to advance the start of direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel,” Nauert said in a statement.

She also cited a move by the Palestinians to have Israeli officials prosecuted at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which the State Department says violates official conditions for the mission’s existence.

Nauert denied the US was retreating from peace efforts.

“The United States continues to believe that direct negotiations between the two parties are the only way forward. This action should not be exploited by those who seek to act as spoilers to distract from the imperative of reaching a peace agreement,” she said.

‘Collective punishment’

It was the latest move by President Donald Trump to push the Palestinians into talks, as his son-in-law Jared Kushner promises a master plan for peace.

In recent weeks, the United States cut more than $200 million in bilateral aid to the Palestinians and canceled its support for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

The Palestinians accused the Trump administration of being one-sided.

They cut off contact with the US administration after Trump recognized the disputed city of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December.

“This is yet another affirmation of the Trump administration’s policy to collectively punish the Palestinian people, including by cutting financial support for humanitarian services including health and education,” PLO secretary-general Saeb Erekat said in a statement.

Husam Zomlot, head of the PLO mission in Washington, called the closure of the office “bullying and blackmailing” and said the US government was “blindly executing Israel’s ‘wish list.’”

“The main part of it is just going ahead and implementing the grocery list that was submitted to them by (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu.”

Both Erekat and Zomlot pledged to push forward with Palestinian efforts at the ICC, where the chief prosecutor has already opened a preliminary probe into the allegations of rights abuses by the Israelis.

Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki visited the ICC in May and called on it to open an immediate investigation.

The Palestinians have asked the ICC to investigate Israel on issues ranging from settlement building in the occupied West Bank to civilian casualties in the 2014 Gaza war, among others.

Waiting for ‘Kushner plan’

While Washington demands the Palestinians open peace talks with Israel, the White House has yet to reveal any details of its long-awaited peace plan being authored by Kushner.

Trump’s National Security Advisor John Bolton said Monday the “extraordinarily ambitious” plan is still being revised and the administration is seeking an ideal time to reveal it.

“I don’t think that the actions we have taken are at all inconsistent with our objective of peace between Israel and the Palestinians,” he said.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas agreeing to talk with the Israelis would be “a fine step forward,” he added.

Veteran Middle East peace negotiator Aaron David Miller, now Middle East Program Director at the Wilson Center, assailed the US move.

“In 40 years following US policy in and outside government, [I have] never seen any administration simultaneously support Israel so uncritically and go after Palestinians so harshly both without logic, purpose or national security rationale,” he said on Twitter.

But Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president at the conservative think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said pressure to close the mission had been coming from Congress for years.

“The PLO has outlived its usefulness since the creation of the Palestinian Authority. Its leaders have been consistently against compromise,” he said.

BEIJING: The Turkic mostly Muslim Uighur minority in China’s Xinjiang region face arbitrary detentions, daily restrictions on religious practice and “forced political indoctrination” in a mass security crackdown, Human Rights Watch said on Monday. The United Nations human rights panel said in August that China is believed to be holding up to 1 million ethnic […]

The United Nations human rights panel said in August that China is believed to be holding up to 1 million ethnic Uighurs in a secretive system of “internment camps” in Xinjiang, in China’s far west, where they undergo political education.

Beijing has denied that such camps are for “political education” and says they are instead vocational training centers, part of government initiatives to bolster economic growth and social mobility in the region.

China has said that Xinjiang faces a serious threat from Islamist militants and separatists who plot attacks and stir up tensions between Uighurs who call the region home and the ethnic Han Chinese majority.

Uighurs and other Muslims held in the camps are forbidden from using Islamic greetings, must learn Mandarin Chinese and sing propaganda songs, according to a report by Human Rights Watch based on interviews with five former camp detainees.

People in Xinjiang with relatives living abroad in one of 26 “sensitive countries”, including Kazakhstan, Turkey and Indonesia, have been targeted by the authorities and are often held for several months, without any formal procedure, the group said.

Punishments for refusing to follow instructions in the camp could mean being denied food, being forced to stand for 24 hours or even solitary confinement, it said.

China foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang declined to give a detailed response to the report and said that Human Rights Watch was a group “full of prejudice” against China that distorts facts.

Measures in Xinjiang aim to “promote stability, development, unity and livelihoods”, while also cracking down on “ethnic separatism and violent terrorist criminal activities”, he told a regular briefing.

Security conditions in Xinjiang outside the camps had also intensified markedly and now bear “a striking resemblance to those inside”, Hong Kong-based Human Rights Watch researcher Maya Wang said, based on interviews with 58 former Xinjiang residents now living abroad.

Wang and her team only spoke with people who had left Xinjiang due to a lack of access to the region and to avoid endangering those still living there.

]]>http://nayapakistan.tv/latest-news/2018/09/10/19766/feed/0Russia prepares for biggest war games in its historyhttp://nayapakistan.tv/latest-news/2018/09/10/19762/
http://nayapakistan.tv/latest-news/2018/09/10/19762/#respondMon, 10 Sep 2018 15:19:38 +0000http://nayapakistan.tv/?p=19762

Russia on Tuesday will launch the biggest military drills in its history involving 300,000 troops as well as Chinese soldiers, in a move NATO denounced as “exercising large-scale conflict”. The week-long deployment alongside Chinese and Mongolian armies dubbed “Vostok-2018” (East-2018) will start in eastern Siberia on September 11. It comes at a time of escalating […]

Russia on Tuesday will launch the biggest military drills in its history involving 300,000 troops as well as Chinese soldiers, in a move NATO denounced as “exercising large-scale conflict”.

The week-long deployment alongside Chinese and Mongolian armies dubbed “Vostok-2018” (East-2018) will start in eastern Siberia on September 11.

It comes at a time of escalating tensions between Moscow and the West over accusations of Russian interference in western affairs and the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.

The Russian army has compared the show of force to the USSR´s 1981 war games that saw between 100,000 and 150,000 Warsaw Pact soldiers take part in “Zapad-81” (West-81) — the largest military exercises of the Soviet era.

But defence minister Sergei Shoigu said this time would be even larger, with 300,000 soldiers, 36,000 military vehicles, 1,000 planes and 80 warships taking part in the drills.

“Imagine 36,000 military vehicles moving at the same time: tanks, armoured personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles — and all of this, of course, in conditions as close to a combat situation as possible,” Shoigu said.

The Russian army will roll out all of its latest additions for the event: Iskander missiles that can carry nuclear warheads, T-80 and T-90 tanks and its recent Su-34 and Su-35 fighter planes.

At sea, the Russian fleet will deploy several frigates equipped with Kalibr missiles that have been used in Syria.

Russia´s previous military exercise in the region, Vostok-2014, was almost half the size, with 155,000 soldiers participating.

The country´s war games in Eastern Europe last year, Zapad-2017, saw 12,700 troops take part according to Moscow. Ukraine and the Baltic states said the true number was far bigger.

‘Future world war’

President Vladimir Putin is expected to attend Vostok-2018 after hosting an economic forum in Russia´s far eastern city Vladivostok where his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping is one of the star guests.

Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer said the games were a “preparation for a future world war”.

“The army´s General Staff believes this will take place after 2020 in the form of either a global war or a series of conflicts with magnitude,” he said.

“The enemy is the United States and its allies.”

According to Felgenhauer, China´s participation — although modest with only 3,200 men — will be a key factor at the drills.

“It´s not just about a sign or a message, but about a preparation for a real-life war of great magnitude,” he said.

This opinion was shared by NATO, which said that Vostok-2018 “demonstrates Russia´s focus on exercising large-scale conflict”.

“It fits into a pattern we have seen over some time — a more assertive Russia, significantly increasing its defence budget and its military presence,” said the alliance´s spokesman Dylan White.

Russia has denied the drills are a cause for worry.

“Vostok-2018 is far from NATO´s area of responsibility and does not affect the security of its member states,” the Russian foreign ministry´s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

Growing number of drills

Relations between Russia and the West declined sharply in 2014 with Moscow´s annexation of Crimea and the subsequent conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Since then Moscow has increased the number of its large-scale military exercises in the Caucasus, the Baltic and the Arctic.

At the same time the Kremlin has accused NATO of expanding westwards and threatening Russian national security.

This week, Russia held military exercises in the Mediterranean.

More than 25 warships and around 30 planes took part in the drills, as Russia increased its military presence in Syria where it intervened to help the Bashar al-Assad regime in 2015.

Around 2,200 Ukrainian, American and other NATO soldiers took part in military exercises in western Ukraine in early September.

Last month, the Kremlin´s spokesman said Russia´s “ability to defend itself in the current international situation which is often aggressive and unfriendly to our country is justified, essential and without alternative”.

The Indian government appears to be displeased with the performance of its troops as it decides to cut over 150,000 troops over the next four to five years. According to a report on an Indian news website, the exceeding size of cadre is responsible for the unimpressive performance of the troops due to which the […]

The Indian government appears to be displeased with the performance of its troops as it decides to cut over 150,000 troops over the next four to five years.

According to a report on an Indian news website, the exceeding size of cadre is responsible for the unimpressive performance of the troops due to which the decision of massive reconstruction was taken by the Indian government.

Few of the military’s departments will also be merged in the light of government’s decision.

Military secretary Lt Gen JS Sandhu is heading an 11-member panel which is reviewing the move and is likely to submit its final report along with preliminary presentation to Indian army chief General Bipin Rawat by the end of November.

“Merging of some verticals and rationalising roles are likely to result in cutting 50,000 troops over the next two years. A reduction of 100,000 more personnel may be possible by 2022-23. But all this is in the study phase right now,” said one of the officials privy to the matter.

The downsizing of troops is expected to take place through revamping different verticals including directorates at the army HQs, logistics units, communications establishments, repair facilities and other administrative and support areas, as per the Indian media reports.

According to the Indian media, citing the reason behind merger of verticals, the order read, “The line between verticals has got blurred, resulting in duplication of charters and associated manning. There is a definite case for reviewing the number of verticals with the aim of restructuring within the vertical as also merging where necessary/possible so as to arrive at economies of scale”.

GENEVA: The United States constantly sends messages to Iran to begin negotiations, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday in a speech broadcast on state television. Tensions ramped up between Iran and the United States after President Donald Trump pulled out of a landmark nuclear deal with Iran in May and reimposed sanctions on the […]

GENEVA: The United States constantly sends messages to Iran to begin negotiations, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday in a speech broadcast on state television.

Tensions ramped up between Iran and the United States after President Donald Trump pulled out of a landmark nuclear deal with Iran in May and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic last month.

Trump has said he would meet Iran’s leaders.

“From one side they try to pressure the people of Iran, on another side they send us messages every day through various methods that we should come and negotiate together,” Rouhani said.

Previously US President Donald Trump said that he would be open to negotiating a new nuclear accord with Iran after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outlined what he said were the Iranian violations of the 2015 nuclear deal.

Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai met Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday to discuss the work of the G7 Gender Advisory Council and their commitment to girls’ education. Canada holds the G7 presidency for 2018 and constituted a gender equality advisory council as part of its tenure. The council is meant to ensure gender equality and gender-based […]

Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai met Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday to discuss the work of the G7 Gender Advisory Council and their commitment to girls’ education.

Canada holds the G7 presidency for 2018 and constituted a gender equality advisory council as part of its tenure. The council is meant to ensure gender equality and gender-based analysis are integrated across all activities and outcomes under Canada’s G7 presidency.

Members of the council are selected on account of their contributions and commitment to advancing gender equality and includes prominent figures like Malala Yousafzai, Melinda Gates and Christine Lagarde.

In April 2017, the Pakistani Nobel laureate was bestowed with honorary Canadian citizenship.

Great to catch up with @Malala today in Ottawa. We talked about the important work of the G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council and our commitment to making sure more women & girls around the world get to go to school. pic.twitter.com/GU2GzdFNSc

“Today we proudly bestow honorary Canadian citizenship on Malala Yousafzai, a young woman from Pakistan who has done tremendous things for the people of her country and for the children of the world,” Trudeau said at the occasion.

So happy to be back in Canada today! Thank you, Prime Minister, for your time and your commitment to education for every child. https://t.co/xOELHsXMu8

She was given the Canadian flag from atop the Peace Tower at the entrance of parliament, and a copy of her 2013 book “I Am Malala” was added to the parliamentary library.

Malala had been invited to Canada by the previous Conservative government in 2014 — when she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize — to receive Canadian citizenship in Toronto. But the ceremony was postponed due to the shooting of a ceremonial guard and an attack on parliament the same day.